Another Omicron case in city, govt calls meet of pvt hosps

Another Omicron case in city, govt calls meet of pvt hosps

Sumati.Yengkhom@timesgroup.com

Kolkata:25.12.2021

One more Kolkata resident, a 27-year-old who returned from UK last week, tested positive for Omicron on Friday. This is the third confirmed case of Omicron among patients under institutional quarantine in Kolkata. Earlier, a sevenyear-old boy from Farakka and a 49-year-old from Kolkata had tested positive for this variant at Telangana and New Delhi.

Even though the Omicron count in Bengal is not yet alarming, health experts fear the number could multiply soon given its high transmissibility. The state health department on Friday asked all private hospitals to keep their infrastructure ready and called a meeting with them on Monday.

The latest Omicron patient, a resident of south Kolkata, has been working in Dublin, Ireland, for the past five years. He reached the city last Friday, flying from Manchester via Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. He tested negative on arrival but developed symptoms later and was admitted to Woodlands Hospital after testing Covid positive.

“The patient has been allotted a single room in the Covid-19 unit as per the isolation protocol. He is stable,” said Rupali Basu, MD & CEO of Woodlands.

Currently, two other Covid patients in hospital isolation — one in Kolkata and another in Kharagur — are awaiting genome-sequencing reports. Another 26-year-old woman, who arrived in Kolkata from UK on December 10, tested negative for Omicron on Friday. She was Covid negative on arrival but was admitted to Beliaghata ID Hospital after developing symptoms.

‘Pvt hosps must ramp up infra for Omicron cases’

The five Omicron cases in the state and the suspected ones have international travel history. Anticipating more such international flyers needing hospital isolation, the health authorities have asked private hospitals not to refuse international flyers, who test positive on arrival, and prefer private hospital treatment.

“Some Covid-positive international travellers prefer private hospitals. Private facilities need to step up isolation infrastructure for suspected and confirmed Omicron cases,” said a health official. The health department has shared a document, ‘Infrastructure information regarding private hospital for isolation of Covid Omicron suspect admission from the airport’ with private hospitals. The hospitals have to update details, including number of Covid beds, Covid ICU beds, isolated beds for international flyers and the number of ventilators.

“We will have an online meeting with private hospitals on Monday where Covid infrastructure update, with stress on facilities for Covid-positive international travellers and those detected with Omicron,” said a Swasthya Bhawan official.